Theological News On-Line

Issue 14 Jan 2003

Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance 

Editor: David Parker  Parker_david@compuserve.com 
Email Distribution: Dr. Paul C. Murdoch   Murdoch@ead.de

Welcome to WEF Theological News On-Line - this is an on-line version of our printed quarterly, WEF Theological News (ISSN 0260-3705). WEF TN On-Line is issued approximately monthly. The content of the printed and on-line versions overlap but are not identical. For more information, visit our website www.worldevangelical.org/tcpubs.html#ert

We welcome news reports on theological matters for both versions - they can cover theological institutions, conferences, publications, faculty, trends and developments, etc. of interest to evangelical theologians around the world.

For more information on the work of the Theological Commission, contact the Executive Chair, Dr Rolf Hille on r.hille@bengelhaus.de

In this issue:

•  Lausanne Forum on World Evangelization 2004
•  Kairos Foundation honours Rene Padilla
•  Librarians training in Africa
•  John Stott Ministries partners with ICETE
•  ICETE 2003 Consultation

Nomination process begins for 2004 Lausanne Forum on World Evangelization

The nomination process for the 2004 Lausanne Forum for World Evangelism began January 1, 2003. Nominations will be sought from all Lausanne and Great Commission Roundtable national and regional committees, ministry and network leaders, denominations, and other church leaders around the world.

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (LCWE), is partnering with the Great Commission Round Table to host the Forum in Pattaya Thailand 29 Sept to 5 Oct, 2004. Lausanne has not called a major gathering since Lausanne II in Manila, in 1989. "We don't need another global meeting only for networking and inspiration as important as that has been," chair of the 2004 Forum, Dr. Roger Parrott emphasizes. "But the Lausanne movement has the integrity to call together the broadest group of Church leaders around the theological foundation of the Lausanne Covenant. And LCWE does speak with authority on issues of evangelism and mission. Using those three gifts from the Lord, the global political and cultural scene has shifted enough that now is a critical time for us to develop strategies for addressing the most critical roadblocks to effective evangelism."

Mrs. Robyn Claydon, chair of the program committee, says that the 2004 Forum must not be understood as a "Lausanne III." "It is rather 24 smaller conferences running simultaneously," she says. The forum will be made up of 24 groups working on documents and implementation strategies for issues ranging from globalization, the uniqueness of Christ in a post-modern world, media and technology, racial reconciliation, and New Age spirituality, to people at risk and non-traditional families. The groups will have a significant number of young people. Seventy percent will be under 49 years of age, with 30 percent being under the age of 35. Women will make up 35 percent of the participants.

The 2004 Consultation will be similar to one held by LCWE in Pattaya in 1980 when 800 church leaders and mission strategists participated. Lausanne 2004 will reflect Lausanne's newly adopted structure which is designed to further the movement's focus on creating ideas to help the Church address the world's most complex issues, to share among the nations effective patterns of evangelism, and to bring together leaders within countries on a global platform to work for world evangelization.

Mr. David Detert, chair of the World Evangelical Alliance International Council said, "The WEA has greatly appreciated the opportunity to be observers at the biennial meeting of the Lausanne International Committee. We have had fruitful dialog about how the two organizations can work more closely together in the missions of world evangelization and the strengthening of the Church in the nations. This is of great importance to WEA as we seek to foster unity within the whole body of Christ. Dr. Paul Cedar, Executive Chair of LCWE, emphasizes the importance of a closer relationship between WEA and LCWE. "I believe that a strategic alliance between us is very important for the mission of world evangelization and will be a strong witness for the cause of Christian unity," Dr. Cedar says.

Executive Chair of the WEA Theological Commission, Dr Rolf Hille, has been named as convenor of the track dealing with "The uniqueness of Christ in a Postmodern World". Facilitator of this track is Rosemary Dowsett of OMF Scotland. Dr Hille was recently appointed as co-chair of Lausanne theological track, working with chair, Luder Whitlock. For more information, go to http://www.gospelcom.net/lcwe/ or http://www.lausanne.org

KAIROS Foundation honours Rene Padilla

The personnel and friends of the Kairos Foundation took the opportunity at the launch of Dr Rene Padilla's new book, Human Economy and Economy of the Kingdom of God on Dec 18, 2002 to recognize his significant contribution to holistic ministry. The Kairos Community of Buenos Aires, Argentina, is made up of members of various evangelical churches who have come together in order to grow and to work together in various ministries. Its history goes back to 1976, when a group started meeting to consider the historical meaning of Christian discipleship in the contemporary world. Their central concern was the shaping of disciples of Jesus Christ seeking to live out their faith in every area of daily life. In 1987 the Kairos Community was legally constituted as Fundación Kairós, an Argentine non-profit organization with an interdenominational board of directors. At present this foundation has five departments: Literature, Theological Education, Community Ministries, Family Ministries (EIRENE), and the Kairos retreat Center. All these ministries are carried out in Spanish.

Dr Padilla, who is well known around the world for his forthright and insightful thought and action, is President of the Kairos Foundation and publication secretary of the Latin American Theological Fraternity. In his latest book, which is a dialogue between theology and human sciences and especially economics, he argues that the criterion to evaluate an economic system is not the gains of the investors but the quality of life of all the people thesystem affects directly or indirectly.

At the same function, Kairos also launched another book by Alberto Roldán which surveys contemporary eschatological thought, mainly evangelical, with the clear conviction that eschatology is not a merely speculative appendix to Christian dogmatics, but a robust doctrine of hope with relevance for the contemporary Christian and the mission of the Kingdom of God in Latin America. Alberto Fernando Roldán is an Argentinian, who holds a doctorate in theology from the University Institute ISEDET of Buenos Aires. He is professor of systematic, ethical theology and phenomenology of the religion in theological institutions of Argentina and other countries of Latin America. He is the author of a dozen of books and is member of the Latin American Theological Fraternity.

For more information, go to http://www.kairos.org.ar or contact Kairos Ediciones on Tel/fax: 4796-3306 & 4718-2412 - Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Successfull ACTEA Library Training Institute in Kenya "Our ACTEA Library Staff

Training Institute has ended, and God blessed us with two very successful weeks with 36 librarians attending each week at Daystar University's Athi River campus.

"We were facilitated through Daystar's short-course ICMT program. Some of the attendees stayed for both weeks, but there were a total of 53 different librarians attending from various African nations, including Rwanda, Zambia, Togo, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa. The ages ranged from early 20's to late 50's which gave a nice family feeling. All facilitators except me were Kenyans with degrees in Library Science, so we had an interesting turn-around in that Africans were teaching missionaries.

"The first week of sessions were based on 'The Librarian's Manual' in that the basics of library management, classification and cataloguing were taught with a very brief introduction to computers. The second week was nearly all computer and Information Technology related learning. This week was taught mostly in one of the new computer labs at Daystar University.

"Overall the response of the attendees was that time and money was well spent in attending this workshop. Some of us have been asked to consider coming to Tanzania and South Africa to do similar presentations in the near future, and we are excited about this. There was unanimity that we must continue doing such things in the future, and we are already looking into various possibilities of either nearly repeating what we have done to a new audience or working together with one of the Nairobi library schools (Kenya Polytechinic) in presenting a custom-made course using their facilities and accreditation in the future."

Phyllis Masso writes from Nairobi, in ACTEA Librarians eNews, October 2002

John Stott Ministries Partners with ICETE

Langham Partnership International, the body which has recently been formed to integrate and sustain the various ministries of John Stott, has accepted an invitation from ICETE to enter into an ongoing relationship as a recognised ICETE Partner. The relationship envisages each organisation supporting the other in areas of common commitment, and pursuing specific opportunities for collaboration, especially in terms of church leadership development around the world. Langham Partnership International is tasked with coordinative oversight for such already well-known services as Evangelical Literature Trust (ELT) and Langham Scholarships, from which many ICETE constituency institutions and individuals have benefited. In addition, Langham Partnerships is involved with writers programmes, publishing grants, and preaching seminars. The newly appointed international ministry director of Langham Partnership is Dr Chris Wright, formerly principal of All Nations Christian College in Britain. For further information on Langham Partnership International, contact: mail@langhampartnership.org

Yale Professor to Address ICETE Consultation 2003

ICETE is pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for the ICETE Consultation in Kiev next year will be Dr. Miroslav Volf, formerly at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia, and now Professor of Theology in the Divinity School at Yale University in the United States. Professor Volf is perhaps best known throughout the academic and theological worlds for his pace-setting books: Exclusion and Embrace. A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation (1996), and After Our Likeness. The Church as the Image of the Trinity (1998). He also recently edited the volume: A Passion for God's Reign. Theology, Christian Learning, and the Christian Self. Volf holds a doctorate in theology from the University of Tübingen in Germany.

The ICETE International Consultation for Theological Educators will take place 18-22 August 2003 in Kiev, Ukraine, hosted at the facilities of the Ukraine Evangelical Theological Seminary. The Consultation theme will be the mega-shifts currently impacting tertiary education globally, and the potential implications of this for theological education worldwide.

The consultation is intended for the ICETE constituency throughout the world. Available space will be limited, so priority will be given to representatives from schools affiliated with one of the eight continental associations that make up the ICETE family (ACTEA, AETAL, ATA, ABHE, CETA, EEAA, SPABC, E-AAA). Since such space will be limited, those interested in attending the Consultation should begin registration proceedings immediately, by contacting ICETE's international administration at: icete@att.net

For over two decades ICETE's international consultations have been widely valued for offering evangelical theological educators an unparalleled opportunity to reflect and interact with peer professional colleagues from around the world in areas of mutual concern and commitment. Additional to plenary sessions on the principal theme, ICETE's Consultation format provides for seminars, workshops, and roundtable discussions on other areas of interest. ICETE's International Director, Dr Dieumeme Noelliste, comments: "The ICETE Consultation in 2003 represents a unique opportunity for evangelical theological educators everywhere. Plan to join us for rich stimulation, interaction, reflection and fellowship." 

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